The World AI Movie Festival is offering a Grand Prix cash prize and ten award categories for AI-generated and hybrid films screening in Marbella this October
WAIMF 2026 opens its inaugural edition at the Red Dog Cinema in Puerto Banús, accepting fully AI-generated and hybrid films from 4 minutes upward, with a Grand Prix cash prize and ten category awards on offer.
The inaugural World AI Movie Festival lands in Marbella on 7 and 8 October 2026, staging live screenings and a full awards ceremony at the Red Dog Cinema in Puerto Banús. An international jury of producers, directors and VFX professionals will assess submissions, and the festival sits at a moment when AI filmmaking has matured enough to warrant dedicated theatrical presentation rather than purely online showcases. That alone makes this edition worth noting.
Organisers have kept the eligibility net wide. Fully AI-generated works and hybrid productions that blend AI tools with conventional footage are both welcome, and there is no premiere requirement, so films already shown elsewhere can still enter. The minimum running time is four minutes including credits, and the film must have been completed after 1 January 2025. English subtitles are required for any non-English dialogue, but beyond that, entrants may use any AI tools they choose.
What you submit
Filmmakers, individual artists, production companies and studios worldwide are all eligible. Accepted categories span short film, feature, animation, music video and experimental work. The festival accepts entries through FilmFreeway, and the entry page lists current fee tiers there directly.
Prize structure
The headline award is the WAIMF Grand Prix, which carries a cash prize and a physical trophy. Beneath that, ten named category awards are on offer:
- Best Sci-Fi
- Best Animation
- Best Comedy
- Best Drama
- Best Thriller-Horror
- Best Action-Adventure
- Best Fantasy
- Best Music Clip
- Talent Award
- Official Selection laurels, winner certificates and partner gifts
The cash value of the Grand Prix has not been published on the festival page at the time of writing. Verify the current amount directly on the FilmFreeway submission page before submitting.
Terms worth reading
Entry fees are set on FilmFreeway and vary by submission tier and timing; the official page does not publish a flat fee, so check the current schedule before you submit. No specific information about intellectual property assignment or licensing of submitted works appears in the published rules, which is worth confirming with organisers directly if your work contains sensitive or commercially active material. Official selection films receive laurels and certificates, which implies public acknowledgement of your title and your name in festival materials. Rights and licensing terms should be clarified via the FilmFreeway listing or direct contact with WAIMF.
Deadline and logistics
The submission deadline is 30 September 2026. No cutoff time is published, so treat end-of-day Marbella local time (CEST, UTC+2) as the boundary and submit with at least a day in hand to account for FilmFreeway processing. The festival itself runs 7 to 8 October 2026 at the Red Dog Cinema, Puerto Banús, Marbella, Spain.
Submit via the WAIMF FilmFreeway page and review the full contest listing at AI Film Contests.